By Kendall Worth
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| 13.8% increase 2023-24. |
My very first blog post indicated people in N.S., on Income Assistance, have a wide range of problems. Then I elaborated, on why, in this BLOG post.
I have reported on and updated regularly on the development of the Federal Disability Benefit, and I now hear a complaint of a different kind from Income Assistance recipients.
Nova Scotia Power bills are getting less and less affordable for Income Assistance recipients.
For more on why life in General including everything from Rent, Bills, Personal Hygiene Products, ETC are getting less affordable see:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/04/advocating-for-better-living-allowance.html
Note - The above Link also explains why the upcoming $300.00 increase here in Nova Scotia is only going to be One Step up from a Drop in the Bucket for those within the 60% of income assistance recipients who will qualify for this.
And for reasons why the higher cost of living encourages why people have to put their heads down these days to thinking about what is more important these days see:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/02/thinking-about-what-is-more-important.html
People have always believed that rents for apartments should be no more than 30% of people’s income, regardless of where money comes from. Of course, almost all landlords do not practice this. If most landlords did practice keeping rent at 30% of someone’s income then we would see a lot less homeless people in our society. Lately, people on income assistance have been complaining that even on budget billing, Nova Scotia is not charging what people can afford to pay for power. Something needs to be done about this.
We do have the Nova Scotia Housing Agency which does work with low income people. However, available apartments are limited. Nova Scotia power needs to create a program where people who are on limited incomes can have discounted power bills. This way people living in poverty can have better ability to pay their Nova Scotia Power bills.
Some Income Assistance recipients tell me that their Nova Scotia Power bill is in arrears, and with inflation, plus high rent, they do not know where to turn. Their Nova Scotia Power bills are getting expensive enough, that, even the budget billing program, is not working for them anymore. What is needed is for Nova Scotia Power to create a program where power bills are geared to income so people can have better ability to pay their power bills.
One problem is when a person living in poverty calls Nova Scotia Power and complains that their power bill is more than they can afford, the person on the NS Power end of the line says “Well the power rates are what they are and there is nothing we can do.”
Some things are reality this year:
The Harp Program got reduced to $600 from the 1K it was last year.
The Salvation Heat decided they were going back to only allowing people to apply every 2 years.
If you call your Income Assistance caseworker and ask for help with covering power bill arrears, they will either not approve, or issue the funds then put an over payment on the Income Assistance cheque. Over payment will mean the Income Assistance recipients will have to pay the money back and repayments come off each month’ cheque.
I have also been hearing that some people have been applying through Parker Street to get help with their power bills and Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank is not even returning phone calls.
Some Income Assistance recipients tell me they are stuck between a rock and a hard place to figure out how they are going to pay their Nova Scotia Power bills this year. After finding out they cannot apply for the Salvation Army Heat Fund and not being able to afford what Nova Scotia Power has been charging them, with their $950.00 Standard House hold rate or less on Income Assistance. So, what is a solution here? Well maybe the foundation I suggested in this post or in Part II is one place where money could come from to help with Nova Scotia Power bills, if this foundation already existed. After all, Income Assistance will not cover Nova Scotia Power Bill arrears; even as a special need for persons with disabilities.
Something-else that is concerning is that from time to time you even see People posting on the Helping the Homeless Facebook page asking for help with their power bills.
Some Income Assistance recipients tell me that they have power bill arrears in ranges of $600.00 to $1K roughly. Over these past couple of months some have even received disconnection notices. Nova Scotia Dept of Community Services, depending on how much arrears they owe, has sometimes agreed to an arrangement to pay a certain amount immediately. One Income Assistance recipient told me that he was in arrears of just over $1000, and Nova Scotia Power asked him for an upfront payment of $486.00 on those arrears. He ended up having to put his rent behind in order to be able to afford that upfront $486.00 after his Income Assistance caseworker would not cover the arrears as a special need, and after Parker Street would not even get back to him. The good news is that Nova Scotia Power worked it out, where moving forward, he only had to pay $25.00 a month on the arrears, plus keep his regular power bill up to date, until repayment is complete.
Another person told me that he had to borrow money from a friend to pay off his power, when he was in arrears of $800.00. Both have said Even if we do qualify for the upcoming $300.00 increase, that is still not going to help make a dent in our our power bills. Nova Scotia Power needs to smarten up and lower their rates.
Fist rents have been going up especially before the rent cap came into affect. Now, Nova Scotia Power bills are skyrocketing. What’s next?
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Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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